Discussion
I wish the energy in the Democratic base was being channelled towards elevating qualified, prepared & interested replacements for Schumer & Jeffries instead of just tearing the easy targets down.
All that negative energy can be addictive/hard to walk away from, and I fear it will leave a wedge in the pro-democracy coalition that is ripe for exploitation by the oligarchs, their allies and their operatives in the coming years.
@mastodonmigration You haven't seen petitions & "call your senator" campaigns, alongside countless accusations/statements of incompetence and/or corruption? To be clear, I'm not defending them. I am suggesting it may be difficult & take a long time to find *effective* replacements, and divisive internal battles are bad politics. I honestly don't know who'd be better at leading, picking the right battles, passing legislation & fundraising. Chances are it will be someone I've never heard of.
@dcdeejay @mastodonmigration I would love to see Stacy Abrams get shot. I like a lot of the people Mastodon mentioned. What I don’t like are people suggesting candidates that aren’t qualified to do the job. Ideology does not equate to competency.
@dcdeejay @mastodonmigration
You know what would *really* be bad politics, for the Dems to appoint party leaders who are opposed to everything the people voted for in the election and then in two years we have an electorate than again votes for a fascist as a result.
@dcdeejay Have seen lots of call to stop Jeffries and Schumer. For Majority Leader mostly seeing people trying to draft Van Hollen. On the House side, not too many names. Someone mentioned Ted Liu.
Do you have a favorite candidate(s)?
I hope Ayanna Pressley throws her hat into the ring.
@mastodonmigration I do not. There are dems I like, that are very good at particular things - but that doesn't mean they would be a successful speaker/majority leader. I'm fine with calls for open & transparent leadership contests. I think it would be great for new leaders to emerge that the base can embrace. But I think it would be a potentially grave error to soil the current leadership before potential successors emerge organically. No need for an unnecessary self own.
@dcdeejay Have not seen too much tearing down. Who do you propose for Majority Leader and Speaker?
On the House side Ted Liu has been mentioned. Think he'd be great. On the Senate, Chris Van Hollen, Jeff Merkeley, Chris Murphy, Elizabeth Warren. All would be excellent.